Blog

July 4, 2016

Bad to the Bone

Bugs made from found animal bones? Of course, why not! This is a project that we teamed up with the creative minds at Brunner and shot for Field and Stream. I get itchy every time I think of this project. lol

April 19, 2016

Michelle Wie

I know everybody knows Michelle Wie is an amazing golfer and probably the most recognizable of all the female golfers. But if you aren’t a fan of Michelle’s, just spend a few minutes with her and that will change. What an amazing person and kind soul. We shot from sunrise to sunset in the most hot and humid conditions. She never had one complaint. What a great sense of humor, she fit into our crew within minutes and even did the Whip and NaNa to try to relax one of the younger models that was a bit star struck. Fan for life! Here are some of the shots we took that day with a few fun behind the scene shots.

Michelle Wie streching

Cwenar Wie photoshoot

Michelle Wie photoshoot

Michelle Wie composite image

so, this is how you grip a club…

Shooting from the shade, smart.

Dave Spink is coming. Everybody back to work.

First shot of the day.

Yes, I’m a sweaty mess!

April 15, 2016

Surf Pittsburgh

Yes! You can surf in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, wake surf that is. For this project I teamed up with Dave Vissat and Dan Magdich of Brunner Works. We won a National Gold Addy for our work on this campaign. Here is an article in TRIM magazine (an international surf publication) that featured my part on this job with some BTS insight and the poster images. Enjoy! www.trimhawaii.com

Trim Magazine

Trim Maizine Pittsburgh

Cwenar photoshoot Surf Pittsburgh

Surfing on Slag

My Dad portrait

Surf Pittsburgh wake surfing

March 23, 2016

Donut Heads

The problem working on a project like this is control. Meaning, don’t eat the props! We did a shoot for Peace Love and Little Donuts and teamed up with Dave Vissat at Brunner Works. All in all, its a pretty simple concept which is always is driven by perfect detailed execution.

Here is the process:

Research! And lots of it. What do you want the models to look like? What wardrobe and accessories are needed to sell the 60’s vibe? How did people wear their make up in that era? How should we light it and what kinds of poses should we use? What’s the mood?

Start looking at head shots of the models and then do a casting call. It’s always important to me to a casting. Head shots can be deceiving. Head shots don’t tell me how the talent will be in front of a camera. Are they a model or just a pretty face? For this project we casted about 30 people for five posters.

After the models are selected we need to start shopping for wardrobe online and go from thrift shop to thrift shop to see what goes best with each donut that was selected.

Now it’s time to shoot! Each model has multiple wardrobe options in their size. This is where the wardrobe person earns their donuts. ( ha,ha pun intended ) We have about an hour and a half to fit wardrobe and do the make up for each model. (That’s really not that much time).

The photography~ the lighting and lensing options are set up the day before and roughed in on one of my assistants. (they love that) During this process we really start to narrow down the poses and think about what’s right for this project. When we finally start shooting the next day we always have a plan of attack so we don’t waste time. Each model has different strengths and that’s what I try to identify as I am shooting. This is where the layouts are less important. This is where we make art and let the shoot happen and see where it takes us.

Post Production ~ now that we have thousands of shots, we need to edit, make selections and start the retouching.

These projects are why we love what we do. It takes many hours and many people are involved to pull this off. A special shout out goes to Dave Vissat for his passion that he brings to each and every project as well as Reema Anbari our Makeup and Wardrobe Stylist on this project. Couldn’t do it with out you.

KISS. Keep it simple stupid is a lot more work than meets the eye.

Fashion photography

sprinkels

60’s vibe

60’s style

Cwenar’s art wall

Studio Wall

Dave and Dan hard at work.

Neighbors getting pictures in front our wall.

October 14, 2015

Not Your Typical Food Shoot!

When we were approached by Eric Holman and his team at Marcus Thomas to do a food shoot for Libby’s, I thought, ok, probably pretty straight forward. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Take a look, pretty cool.

February 18, 2015

Three days in Paris

These images are from a collection of photographs that I shot in Paris last Easter. My approach was simple, I set out on foot with no plan on where I was going. I let my eye guide me and let myself get lost in my art. There were many twists and turns. Streets turn into alleys, bridges turn into courtyards and squares. All along the way I let the images come to me. Some are easy to see, some may go unnoticed to most. I find the best pictures are the ones that hide from me at first, the ones that live on the edge of what everyone else sees. The photographic journey is what I enjoy the most. The final images are just the remains of a day of doing what I love.

December 25, 2014

Cwenar-Gram’s

I love Instagram, I mainly use instagram while I’m on the road. It’s been a great way to occupy the downtimes and keep track of my travels. It also gives me a chance to play with all the the cool presets that people make for instgram and it has given me ideas for that I have applied on my real projects. Pretty cool… If you’re an Instagram user, you can find me at @cwenar!

October 28, 2014

Defend the Den

This is a shoot I did with the Hershey Bears hockey club. The theme of the shoot was “Defend the Den” not only for the players but for the fans as well. I wanted the shots to have a serious tone to them not only in the way I posed them but also in their “I want to kick your ass” attitude and expressions. I used a lighting that was textural and harsh to further the look. The funny thing about this day was that every single person that I shot was beyond nice and it was a challenge to get them out of their everyday character. Until I told them I was a Pittsburgh Penguin’s fan. And YES… that worked!

October 25, 2014

Tahoe…

Things I’ve learned during my shoot in Lake Tahoe: 1) Freezing in the morning, hot in the afternoon and freezing in the evening. 2) Air…or lack there of. 3) Not the shoot for your prop stylist to wear her mini skirt and stiletto heels 4) The water is incredibly cold and there is this thing called HYPOTHERMIA. 5) If your assistant is going to tip the canoe, please tip it at the end of the shoot not at the beginning. 6) One of the most beautiful places to shoot in the world!!!

September 10, 2014

Victory Motorcycles

Shooting models on motorcycles going at ridiculously high rates of speed = a SMART producer. And I’ve got a great one! Bob Martin has been producing my shoots for over twenty years and I am lucky to have him as part of my team. Production is key on all shoots but it is mandatory when you are shooting motorcycles. We are talking about dotting your I’s and crossing your T’s to make sure everyone’s liability is at a minimum. To finding an abandoned Airforce runway for the location, to making sure the models not only have the right look but are skilled at riding bikes is a challenge. The permit requirements on this project would ground most shoots even before one frame was taken. And on and on and on… It also helps to have a Kick-Ass client and Ad Agency behind you, working with you, on making sure we have what we need to do our jobs… You guys make my job easy. Great shoot!